November 25, 2025
Day 1,516 of the Adventure
Video Link Here (Is The Economy Stealing Your Dream?)
For us, this new reality probably doesn't hit as close or as hard as it does for others. About four years ago, we began an intentional move in the direction of a more self-sufficient life. We're not as far into it as we plan to be, but we're a lot further along than many of our friends. For us, the thought of greater independence in the areas of energy, housing, food and life in general became a priority following the attempted shut-down of our business by the government during the Covid pandemic. (Don't get me started on that!) Between supply-line disruptions, the government printing and burning through money like there was no tomorrow and the general financial squeeze we began to experience, to me, the handwriting was on the wall. It told me that the going was about to get tough. Not the kind of tough that happens and then it's over. It felt like we were crossing a new threshold that we'd likely experience for a long time. One that, in fact, we may never return from. Am I right or absolutely positive about this? No, not completely, but since its beginnings, I've become more confident in the long-term nature of this new economic reality. A reality that seems to be slowly stealing the American dream from nearly everyone I know. It manifests itself in the uncontrolled rise in prices of everything from food to fuel, rents and mortgages, interest rates, insurance rates, and on and on. If you have not personally felt the economic squeeze in your life, I applaud whatever you're doing to avoid it.
Oddly enough, while the economic and even world conditions are forcing our life dreams into oblivion, for me, they opened a new door to dreams I'd never found the time or courage to pursue. The dreams of a more independent, self-sufficient, back to the land, basic life. One based on the abundance of a life lived closer to our own terms, pace and values. A life where we were less encumbered by the decisions of others and more directed by our own choices of direction. The moment came in the sobering realization that things were changing and I could choose to be run over by the change or go all in on an alternative pathway. With that decision made, we immediately began looking for a footprint of land we could begin this new journey upon. Our canvas became a twelve-acre slice of the Missouri Ozarks. Fully raw land, untouched by human hands and ready for a transformation into our dream of a backwoods, simple life. My wife is always quick to remind me that simple does not translate to "easy". This is true. Most of what we've done to this point has not been easy. It's been fulfilling!
We've transformed the wildness into "partially civilized". We have a cabin to live in as we are now four years in and have finally begun to build our permanent house. We've built a garden area and now have two years worth of experience in living off of and preserving the abundance of it for future use. We've become largely energy independent, and completely independent from a "heat energy" point of view. Our monthly grocery reliance on the "store bought" supplies is now back under $300 and actually closer to $200. In fact, in four relatively short years, we've essentially reversed the economic "creep" upward and have forced most of it into our submission. Easy? Not necessarily. Satisfying and meaningful? Absolutely! That's just a small summary of our story, but the important question is, can it become your story. If this even resonates with you, and perhaps it doesn't, but if it does, where is the starting point?
I've always said and believed that no one ever changes until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of the change. This is true in this area of life as well. Our commitment is a simple one. Improve our personal quality of life while helping guide and encourage others to do the same. We've learned what it's like to overcome the fear and anxiety of choosing a new life path. We've had to search hundreds of pieces of land to find the one that uniquely fit our dreams and goals. We've opened up raw land and have built the basic infrastructure necessary to live comfortably on that land. We have close to four years of harvesting the abundance that's available on our twelve small acres. All this and more is now making up the foundation of our life. We pay attention to the news trends more for strategic decision making than we do for what it does to feed dread into our lives. We've gone from a life of trying to cope with keeping our head above water to actually feeling like we are out-maneuvering the economic avalanche that is continually trying to overtake us. There's a sense of empowerment to this life. One that is almost addictive. It feels as if some level of control and direction has been wrestled away from other forces, government comes to mind.
Again, if any of this rings true or sounds like a viable game-plan, the question needs to be asked. Is It My Time? If the answer is yes, then welcome to the journey. Everything we have to offer is connected to our blog, YouTube channel and website for free. Some of it, we've transposed into books that consolidate it into one resource for a modest cost. An example of that is our "Back To The Land" book available on Amazon which takes 30 steps to starting your Back to the Land YouTube playlist and makes it available in book form.
Regardless of how you choose to connect up, we'd be honored to have you as part of the tribe.
Carry On
Adventure Quote: "Here's to having an excellent adventure and may the stopping never start!"
Resources
Make sure to visit our website regularly to see new products and resources.
YouTube Channel: The Campfire Trail
YouTube Channel: Life of Treasures
Our Books
Treasures of Life - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Treasures of Life 2 - Daily Devotional by Shelley
Back to the Land - Planning your Back to the Land Roadmap by Martin
Wealth Creation - Principles of Wealth Creation by Martin
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